1-1 By: Madla S.B. No. 633
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 22, 1999; February 23, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; April 9, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 9, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Madla
1-7 Amend S.B. No. 633 as follows:
1-8 In SECTION 2 of the bill, strike Subsection (a) and
1-9 substitute the following:
1-10 (a) Upon adoption of an order by the commissioners court, the
1-11 [The] county shall periodically inspect a building subject to this
1-12 chapter to determine whether the building complies with the fire
1-13 code. The commissioners court by order may establish the interval
1-14 between initial and subsequent inspections.
1-15 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-16 AN ACT
1-17 relating to the application of a fire code and fire code
1-18 inspections to certain buildings in unincorporated areas of a
1-19 county.
1-20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-21 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 235.002, Local Government
1-22 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-23 (a) The fire code applies only to the following buildings
1-24 [constructed] in an unincorporated area of the county:
1-25 (1) a commercial establishment, including an office
1-26 building or manufacturing facility; [and]
1-27 (2) a building that produces income, including a
1-28 single-unit or multi-unit rental property; and
1-29 (3) a public building.
1-30 SECTION 2. Section 235.004, Local Government Code, is
1-31 amended to read as follows:
1-32 Sec. 235.004. INSPECTIONS. (a) The county shall
1-33 periodically inspect a building subject to this chapter to
1-34 determine whether the building complies with the fire code. The
1-35 commissioners court by order shall establish the interval between
1-36 initial and subsequent inspections.
1-37 (b) The commissioners court may provide that a county
1-38 employee or an employee of another governmental entity under
1-39 intergovernmental contract may perform an [the] inspection.
1-40 (c) A building inspector may enter and perform an initial
1-41 [the] inspection at a reasonable time at any stage of the
1-42 building's construction and after completion of the building.
1-43 (d) On or before the date that construction of a building
1-44 subject to this chapter is completed, the owner of the building
1-45 shall request in writing that the county conduct an initial
1-46 inspection of [inspect] the building for compliance with the fire
1-47 code.
1-48 (e) The county shall begin the initial inspection of the
1-49 building within two days after the date of the receipt of the
1-50 written inspection request. If an initial inspection is properly
1-51 requested and the county does not begin the inspection within the
1-52 time permitted by this subsection, the building that is the subject
1-53 of the request is considered approved for the purposes of this
1-54 chapter.
1-55 (f) A building inspector may enter a building at a
1-56 reasonable time and perform a subsequent inspection following an
1-57 interval prescribed by an order issued under this section.
1-58 (g) The county shall issue a [final] certificate of
1-59 compliance to the owner of a building inspected under this section
1-60 if the inspector determines, after an inspection of the completed
1-61 building, that the building complies with the fire code. The
1-62 certificate shall be valid until the next inspection conducted
1-63 under this section.
2-1 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-7 * * * * *